News

Parishes optimistic about new unified school

By Jeff Kurowski
Compass Assistant Editor

	NEW START: Lilly F., Jordan W. and Melissa M. join in the celebration at the new Divine Savior School, serving Kiel and New Holstein, where they will be in the third grade. (Rick Evans photo)

John Paul II School was considered. Queen of the Apostles made the top three. But it's Divine Savior School, a name selected by a three-to-one margin, which will officially open its doors at two sites on Sept. 4.

The former Ss. Peter & Paul School in Kiel and Holy Rosary School in New Holstein are now one. The Kiel campus will house preschool through grade four, while grades five through eight will attend classes in New Holstein.

The unification was not a directive from the diocese. Both schools could have continued to operate separately, but parents and parishioners sought action to ensure the future of Catholic day school education in the two communities.

"Something needs to be done," said Ron Reese, who serves as co-president of the Board of Education for the new school, along with Barry Blatz. "We couldn't continue on our current path for years to come. When I graduated from Holy Rosary in '83, there were 32 kids in our class. Last year, one of my daughters only had six in her class. We formed various committees and looked at options for the future."

A unification committee was formed in February 2006. The committee, co-chaired by Dan Schneider and Richard Meyer, included members from Holy Rosary and Ss. Peter & Paul Parishes, and St. Ann Parish, St. Anna, which had students at both schools. From the start of the process, the interests of the students were the focus, said Larry Konetzke, principal at Divine Savior School.

"When you take two schools to create one with one set of rules and one school philosophy, and you're dealing with two public school districts, there are challenges, but everything went pretty smoothly," he said. "The students were everybody's focus. People put aside their personal interests."

Konetzke served as the principal at Ss. Peter & Paul and Holy Rosary schools.

"Larry gave us the bridge between the two schools that helped us move ahead," said Tony Grybush, a member of the unification committee and Ss. Peter & Paul Parish. "He was extremely helpful. So many people came together to make this work. Every time you ran into a road block, there were 10 people working on solutions."

The unification committee held the first of two town hall meetings in September 2006. No decision on unification had been made at that time. The meeting was designed to present information and answer questions from parents and parishioners. The committee had surveyed parishioners and completed a cost analysis for operating the two schools.

"The people of the parishes were encouraged to attend because the parish subsidizes the school," said Reese. "Whatever feedback we received throughout this process, we considered. We tried to be as open as possible. The net proposed saving is $80,000 per parish."

The second town hall meeting was held in October. Prior to the meeting, both schools were open for inspection. Both buildings are in good physical condition.

"There was some basic maintenance done over the summer," said Konetzke, "but the only real change was that the big desks were moved to New Holstein and the smaller desks to Kiel."

The unification proposal was presented to the Diocesan Board of Education last November. In December, Bp. David Zubik approved the plan to establish a two-campus elementary school. Parishioners were invited to submit names for the new school. Students and parents selected Knights as the school mascot and silver, black and white as its colors.

Konetzke said he expects the students to quickly adapt to their new surroundings and classmates.

"We've had exchange days and the schools took field trips together, so the kids got used to seeing each other," he said. "We will do things throughout the year to get the two campuses together. We will pair a fourth grader with a seventh grader to ease the transition to the other campus the following year."

Konetzke will rotate days at each campus and split Fridays between the two.

"Back to School Night," last Monday, brought students, staff, parents and parish members together as a kickoff event for the new school year. A joint campus Mass is scheduled for Sept. 7.

Sandy Winkel, a parent from St. Ann Parish and member of the unification committee, will have students at both campuses. She coaches fifth and sixth grade volleyball at the school and has already seen bonds form between the students.

"They are doing great," she said. "As parents, we cannot sweat the little things. The kids don't."

Reese said his daughter, Nicole, was excited to invite her new volleyball teammates to her birthday celebration. In addition to the efforts of the faith communities, he said the diocesan department of education made the unification possible.

"Any time we got the diocese involved, they were always extremely supportive," he said. "We would ask people from the department to attend meetings, and they were there for us. They were very helpful with our incorporation papers. We always felt very comfortable approaching them with questions."

Approximately 135 students are expected to attend Divine Savior School this year. There will likely be some unexpected challenges that arise, said Grybush, but he believes this is a year of opportunity.

"In the past, so many things were carved in stone at the schools because that's the way things have always been done," he said. "We now have a clean slate to discover new things, to see what works and what doesn't work. That's one of the exciting parts."

Grybush's daughter, Macy, will attend Divine Savior. His three older children are graduates of Ss. Peter & Paul School.

"There is still a lot of work to do," he said. "Down the road it would be my hope to build a new building and have one school. I think about my children's children. Are they going to have a Catholic school here or are they going to have to travel 45 minutes for their children to go to a Catholic school? You can't beat the value of a Catholic education."